Broken Glass
by Justhad
Summary: One accident changes the course of time. One man's choice alters the fabric of time. Shards of glass break that fabric and memories of a day long forgotten are returned. With a long awaited reuniting of two star-crossed lovers, these chosen two will soon


Broken Glass

By Hadley Kombrink

Buffy Summers stood at the steps of Wolfram and Hart debating whether or not to let herself cross that threshold. Waiting on the other side of those doors was not only a myriad of evils, but the one person who make her heart go from strong to weak in a matter of seconds. She glanced down at her bloodstained jeans and tried to ignore the tinge of grease that clung to her thin hair as she tried to make a decision. Looking back at the sunny world which engulfed her, Buffy slipped her precocious hand around the metal doorknob and walked into the dark.

Angel seemed awake the moment she stepped in the doorway. He surveyed his new office and began to ponder the feelings he was receiving. Buffy was here: In L.A. _It couldn't be _he thought to himself. Angel resisted the urge to rush quickly down to the ground floor, but instead decided to walk calmly trying not to raise a stir from any of his co-workers. Pushing his chair politely into the curve of his desk, he walked with ease out of his office and to the elevator. He pushed the down button and waited impatiently. As the door chimed signaling it was about to open, he looked down at the floor. Then, the doors opened and Angel looked up. There she stood. All five feet three inches of Buffy stood in the spacious Wolfram and Hart elevator shaft. Her eyes looked tired and there were obvious bloodstains adorning her jeans, white shirt and jacket. She walked a few steps out of the elevator to face Angel and stumbled into his arms. He caught her before she hit the floor and cradled her in his arms for a few seconds. Seconds that seemed to last forever.

People were staring now and some were even quick enough to notice that it was the Slayer whom Angel was carrying slowly now into the elevator. He quickly pushed the button to take them upstairs to his makeshift apartment, and then they were off.

About a minute later they arrived in his apartment. Buffy was still breathing, but was obviously needing of much rest. The windows, already closed, allowed Buffy the dark sleep-needing atmosphere she needed. As Angel was pouring a glass of water in the kitchen, Buffy spoke.

"Angel?" he heard from the other room. He was so stunned he didn't notice his grip release the glass from his hand and fall to the floor. It landed with a loud crash and the sound of broken glass echoed through the rooms. Footsteps were heard thereafter, but not Angel's, Buffy's. The blonde beauty was suddenly standing before him and surveying the broken glass that now littered the black tiled floor in front of him. She bent down to the floor and took off her jacket. Folding it over one hand, Buffy began to put the broken pieces onto the jacket.

"Please let me do that, you need rest," Angel said coming down to her level and trying to take the jacket full of glass away from her.

"No, let me help," Buffy replied trying to yank it back. They both pulled on the jacket causing it's already beaten up flimsiness to tear. A somber expression appeared on Buffy's face. Angel noticed and took her hand. A single tear ran down Buffy's face, and Angel placed his hand on her cheek to try to wipe it away. His hand to her skin created an indescribable feeling that ran through the two of them. For once, her skin was colder than his and the sadness in her was made known to him through her eyes.

"Anya's dead. Spike's dead, and my home is gone," Buffy said to him as she broke down crying. She collapsed in his arms and he held her as the glass lay broken.

"Who what? He what? They? What? Where?" Lorne spoke with inquisitive enthusiasm as Wesley informed him that the infamous Buffy Summers, the vampire slayer, was here and currently in Angel's apartment, with Angel.

"What are you trying to say?" Wesley questioned Lorne in his usual quaint British accent.

"All I'm saying is that if there's some Barry involved. We're not seeing Angelcakes and his honey for a long time," Lorne replied referencing one of his favorite R & B crooners. Lorne loved poking fun at the two doomed lovers as often as it was appropriate.

"You don't actually think they, well, you know," Wesley said quietly to Lorne who sadly forgot to expect a large spectacle from the outlandish green demon.

"I bet they're just laying there next to each other like girls do at sleepovers talking about their year and gossiping about boys," Lorne said right before he walked into an elevator to take him to the next audition he was overseeing. Wesley stared at him as the doors closed. As per usual, the expression left on Wesley's face was priceless.

Up in Angel's apartment, Buffy lay snuggled in Angel's arms as she bared all her feelings since the collapse of Sunnydale.

"The way he looked at me, how he told me that I didn't mean it, it was just so painful to watch," Buffy said to Angel as she described her last moments with Spike. Angel's right arm was wrapped around her and his other hand in one of hers. He had also wrapped a blanket around her to help make her warmer. Angel had helped clean a few of her wounds and he gave her a new not-so-torn shirt to wear.

"Did you actually believe you were in love with him?" Angel asked wanting to know so badly that he thought his head would explode. He wondered how after all this time Buffy still was able to dredge up all these feelings in him. Feelings Angel didn't even think he experienced with Cordelia. But now Cordelia was gone from him, just like Spike to Buffy.

"I don't know. I mean, I cared for him more and more as it came down to the end. The things he said to me -" Buffy started in before Angel cut her off.

"What did he say?" Angel asked defensively.

"Nothing bad! Just, that what he loved what I was, what I did. Not because he wanted me, but because he genuinely believed in the work that I do," Buffy becoming a bit torn up inside.

"Man! He's good!" Angel remarked jokingly but sincerely giving Spike the credit where it was deserved. It was hard for Angel to imagine Spike ever being sincere or saying anything profound, but on the other hand, Buffy probably couldn't imagine Cordelia as anything other than a cheerleader.

"Well, it was just really nice. I was feeling so alone," Buffy said to him. She didn't know what else to say to the love of her life about the man who had played such an important role her life in recent years.

"I understand," Angel replied as he began holding her a little closer to him. Her head almost rested against his heart. Sadly, it wasn't beating. It never had been all those times she'd rested her head there before, but every single time she hoped it would. Then Buffy closed her eyes, and fell into a much needed deep sleep.

Dreams began to flood Buffy's subconscious a few minutes after she entered her deep sleep. Memories of her life with Angel came rushing back to her. She remembered them all up until the one day she had gone to visit Angel after he'd come to help her during Thanksgiving. But instead of leaving, Buffy saw herself and Angel both fighting the Mohra demon and it getting away. Short flashes followed of the two walking in the sewer. Buffy seemed to watch the event play out with an enormous amount of tension obviously building between the two. The dream image quickly changed to a sunny scene at the Santa Monica Pier. Buffy was seeing through her dream self's eyes and witnessed Angel walk into the sun and begin passionately kissing her. The feelings she began to experience felt so real that Buffy couldn't decipher whether or not it was a dream or if it might have somehow been real. The scenes began processing at a quicker pace showing Buffy and Angel in a heat of passion: kissing on a table, enjoying the sweetness of chocolate and peanut butter and then…..Buffy wakes up alone. She discovers Angel has gone to fight Mohra as a human. Fearing she'll never hear the beat of his heart again, Buffy watches her self in the dream saving both herself and Angel. She watches Angel talking to the Oracles, but he doesn't stay human. He takes back the day. Buffy cried while begging for it not true, claiming she'd never forget, she'd never forget…

And then she awoke.

"I'll never forget, I'll never forget, I'll never -" Buffy yelled in her sleep and as she awoke.

"Buffy! Are you ok?" Angel asked grabbing her to stop the seizure-like moves she was displaying.

"What? Oh, I just had the weirdest dream. I'm not really sure if it was a dream or not actually," Buffy said to him as she took in his semi-warm embrace.

"Well, what happened?" Angel asked her inquisitively.

"Umm, uh…" Buffy started in trying to avoid going into the details of it, "you and I were there. You were human and we, we…. You gave up being human." Buffy said to him stammering while trying to explain it.

"Oh, Buffy, I…" Angel said slipping and almost revealed what he knew. Angel had told no one besides Doyle whom had told Cordelia. They both were gone from him now, so he remained the sole person who knew of the day that never was. He didn't cover it up well and Buffy immediately knew.

"Angel," Buffy said slowly," it wasn't a dream was it?" At that moment exactly, all the memories of the day came spiraling back to her at once. They entered her mind with great force, causing her to remember images, times, places, and feelings. She let a scream and then blacked out.

Angel picked up his phone.

"Wolfram and Hart, this is Harmony, how may we service your evil deeds today?" Harmony said speaking into the phone like a good receptionist should.

"Can you transfer me to the office of Winifred Burkle please?" Angel spoke quickly into the phone, but before Harmony could answer, he hung up. Fred couldn't help with what was happening to Buffy. She was receiving memories she was always supposed to have had. Memories he took away from her. All factors aside, this could not be good. Buffy was never supposed to know, or chaos would most certainly occur. Angel looked out the window and saw an immense amount of dark stormy clouds littering the sky. Something was coming, Angel feared, and it was not at all good.

"You mean, he just hung up?" Fred said to Gunn as they paced in her lab, "what's going on? Is he alone?"

"I think so, and I have no idea. I'm gettin' some heebie-jeebies about the whole ting," Gunn replied while pacing opposite Fred.

"Maybe we should go ask Wesley," Fred suggested to Gunn as they tried to come up with ideas.

"No need," a voice said from behind her. It was Wesley Wyndom-Price, all clad in another one of his sexy British outfits, at least, in Fred's opinion. Her pining for Wesley was never very apparent to her, but rested in the back of her brain for the right time.

"Oh, Wesley, we think something's happened," Fred said to him trying to acquire some answers.

"Buffy's here," Wesley said to her coldly. He knew that Fred had once had a crush on Angel before Gunn or Wesley. This had caused her to see Buffy as competition.

"What's she doing here?" Fred replied.

"I have no idea," Wesley said to her as he sat down in one of the empty chairs in the lab, "but I fear the worst." Wesley had a hard time relying on Angel due to past events where he had let them down. Plus, when it came down to Buffy, Angel couldn't see straight. All of them knew this, which was why they had full reason to be worried.

Buffy had been lying still for about twenty minutes now and Angel was watching her intently. He knew that when she woke up she'd want an explanation about the day. Angel decided to himself that he would tell her when she woke up; someone had to know. Just as he finished going over the pros and cons in his head, Buffy began to stir. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at Angel. He smiled at her and she smiled back. Buffy surveyed her surroundings and grabbed the bedspread that Angel had put over her.

"Angel, are these memories I have real?" Buffy asked him again quietly, obviously trying to hold back tears.

"Yes," Angel said staying true with his original idea of telling her the truth.

"Then why? WHY? We were happy! I love you so much and you take these memories away from me?" Buffy said to him with the same saddened voice. It was seemingly begging to know how he felt inside.

"They said you would die: that if you and I were together we'd perish faster. I couldn't let my personal happiness effect whether you lived or died!" Angel explained to her while trying to reason his feelings and choices.

"We could have fought them together! Who are you to make choices for me?" Buffy said in a raised tone but still with a sound similar to the one earlier.

"The Oracles were the ones who told me what would happen. I just wanted you to live," Angel replied just letting go of trying to fight revealing his true feelings.

The two looked at each other, both older and wiser since the event happened, yet their reaction had been the same as they had three years earlier. The two continued to sit in silence on the bed. She had now learned one of the few secrets he kept hidden deep within his not beating heart. And now, it was out. Angel could no longer resist Buffy who had been gone from him so long. He leaned closer to Buffy while looking right into her tear dampened eyes, deep into her soul. Her gaze met his and the two joined in a trance. They seemed to come closer together, but time passed slowly. Angel placed his hand on Buffy's right cheek and pulled her face closer to his. She gently tilted her head and invited Angel to kiss her. He pressed his lips gently on hers and the two began a passionate kiss. It had been years since the two had been together romantically and the kiss sparked flames that had they had each thought were long gone. It had seemed simple in the beginning but grew into a developing spark of passion that had lain dormant.

The kiss grew and Buffy soon had her arms around Angel. The two seemed to slip into an unplanned series of kisses that were long since wanted between the two star-crossed lovers.

Across the apartment the glass that lay broken began to grow. A mist suddenly came seeping out of the shards and releasing a signal to a demon group that had been in wait for the moment when they were to take out the vampire with the soul and his pesky slayer at the same time. These demons had been training for years since their last run in with the vampire and his minions. They were known as the Scourge.

Outside, rain started to pour. Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, and Fred were all now situated in Fred's lab watching the rain through her glass windows. They were trying to understand Buffy's sudden appearance and the freak rainstorm.

"Something's been triggered," Wesley said from the doorway where he'd been leaning. His stare had been fixated on a radar screen in Fred's lab that detected recent demonic activity in the area and close to the building. The identification was making crazy noises and blinking whatever grandeur lights it could. Fred rushed over to the computer and began punching in a series of numbers.

"An artifact triggered some sort demon, or at least that's what the screen is showing," Fred started and then picked up a dusty old book from the shelf behind her desk. She quickly shuffled through the pages until she found what she was looking for.

"It's called the Glass of the Oracle. It's a glass, like an actual drinking glass, and in its fabrication lay memories taken away from those who weren't supposed to remember. Let me plug it into the Wolfram and Hart database and see what has happened to it," Fred explained as she went about her motions. When she plugged the name into the database, it showed that her security clearance didn't go that far.

"What? You're the lab head honcho and you can't even access this? Bizarre!" Gunn said checking out the computer screen, "I'd think we'd need Angel's clearance to access it. How will we get that?" Everyone looked at each other. Wesley stepped forward and pulled out a shiny card from his shirt pocket.

"How?" Gunn asked as Wesley handed Angel's security key card to Fred. Fred took it and typed in the card number. Wesley stepped back away silently, not answering Gunn's question right off.

"I made a copy, for security reasons, of course," Wesley said to them. Fred typed and waited. What she found she could not believe.

"It says that a few years ago a Mohra demon made a vampire human. Then, the vampire asked the Oracles for the day back so he could kill the demon before their bloods mixed. They agreed and only he knew of the day. That vampire was Angel," Fred read before her mouth dropped open from shock.

"Now, let me guess, Buffy was around when Angel was human for that day and she is the one who now has her memories back?" Gunn asked trying to figure out the situation.

"Correct," Fred said as she continued to read on, "and the glass broke releasing the memories and awakening the demons meant to kill the vampire and the slayer if he'd stayed human." Fred looked up at her friends.

"We need to hurry," Wesley stated before the four filed out the door in search of Angel.

Angel ran his fingers through Buffy's hair as they continued to kiss passionately. They were long past gazing into each other's eyes, but were thinking deep down that Angel's happiness clause forbade them from being together any more than how they were now. On that one day, it was perfect. They were together in love. And like now, the curse was deeply imbedded in the back of their minds. The passion inside them increased and Angel attempted to ignore the temptation. He wouldn't have been successful, but was saved by a pounding at the door. The two stopped and Angel got up to get the door. Angel jumped first and wouldn't let Buffy follow him. When he got to the door, he found Lorne, Wesley, Fred, and Gunn on his doorstep.

"Hi guys," Angel said to them. It was an awkward moment between the groups.

"What happened the day after Thanksgiving the first year you were here?" Fred asked him knowing that with such detail, he'd have to answer truthfully.

"We know something was reversed," Gunn stated flatly to him with a cold stare in his eyes.

"Huh? What?" Angel asked him with a blank expression.

"A glass that you broke, it released memories from the day you became human," Wesley finally stated outright.

"What glass? And, how did you know?" Angel asked them trying to put all these different pieces of information in his head.

"We hacked into your security clearance, you'll thank us later. Now let's get you and your honey all battle-ready before you two actually do something," Lorne said them as they burst into Angel's apartment and headed straight for his weapons collection.

"What's going on?" Angel asked again trying to at least figure out what was going on.

"Ever here of the Scourge?" Gunn asked him getting very close to Angel's face. He was extremely mad about not being informed of this before today.

"They died, at least they're gone now," Angel said to them as they all began grabbing things from his apartment.

"No they're not. They're coming here. When you broke that glass," Wesley stated pointing to the broken glass on Angel's kitchen floor.

"When you took her memories away you laid dormant the future battle the Scourge had planned to bring you both down," Fred said as she grabbed Angel's crossbow off the wall and unknowingly had it faced in Angel's direction, "come on, we have to get ready." Angel looked away from her angry gaze and looked back to his bed where Buffy was now sitting. A look of despair appeared on her face, but luckily to Angel's advantage, that look was shared with one that showed her will to fight. Angel picked up his ax and nodded to her. She nodded back and walked toward them. They all looked at each other in silence and soon exited the apartment, ready for battle.

The sun had set and the rain still fell. They had gathered an eclectic assortment of weapons and were preparing for the Scourge. Fred had also lent Buffy a clean pair of jeans and a black turtleneck to wear instead of bloody clothes. Both being small girls, the items seemed to fit Buffy alright. Clothes may have made Buffy who she was earlier in life, but now they were the last thing on her mind. She had a Byzantine ax, fitting, because it was the same one she'd killed Mohra with on the forgotten day three years earlier. In a holster on her belt laid a long sharp sword that Angel had once had on display on the wall behind his desk in his office. Angel had given it to her to use because it by far was the most lethal.

"I'm sorry to put you right back into another battle," Angel said to Buffy who had been silent since they'd got to get weapons.

"It's fine. It's not your fault," Buffy said to him and then looked away, "oh wait. It is." She turned and walked away.

"Buffy, wait! That's not fair!" Angel said following her as she tried to brush him off.

"Angel, we can't discuss this now. We have a battle to fight," Buffy said to him coldly. He nodded in agreement. Angel watched her head to the elevator but before she could reach it, the lights went out.

"Party time," Buffy stated as she hid on the balcony overlooking the lobby in the shadows and waited for the Scourge to come in fore them. The lobby of Wolfram and Hart was silent. The silence was soon gone with the sound of broken glass under the Scourge's warriors.

Angel fell to his knees at the sound of the glass. He felt a surge flow through him like a bad electric shock. It was a feeling he'd only felt once before. He was gaining humanity. Angel lifted himself up and began gasping for breath. His heart beat loudly in his chest and he held his hand there until he was for sure it was lasting. Angel then backed into a corner away from the others.

"Angel!" Buffy screamed before launching herself into the pit of warriors causing Angel's friends to turn their focus away from Buffy and the 100 warriors to Angel. He cowered into the shadows and urged them to fight. They heeded his warnings and went running into the Scourge. Buffy and the others fought the warriors until a small voice whispered a Latin chant.

Suddenly all the movement stopped and the Scourge warriors seemed frozen in place. A shimmering lady stepped up to the group and smiled.

"Hey guys. Remember me?" the woman said revealing herself as Willow Rosenberg, Buffy's best friend. They remembered her from last year and nodded in amazement.

"I'm here to help fight. I can slow them down a bit, but you guys have to do the work," Willow stated as she motioned for the four friends to go after the slower Scourge. Willow walked over to Angel who was still sitting in the corner, "here, join the others." Willow threw him a sword and he caught it in midair. Angel was nervous and was afraid of being hurt. But the minute he saw Buffy throw the Byzantine ax into one of the foreheads of the Scourge, he jumped up to join her. He beheaded the Scourge member who was about to grab Buffy first. Angel then kicked another with all his human strength. He pounded his first into another. This hurt and he felt the blood seep down his knuckles without even having to see it. They continued to fight until every last Scourge demon was dead. Lorne and Gunn were passed out next to each other and a tired Wesley was helping a wounded Fred. Buffy and Angel looked at each other and locked eyes. He walked over to her and Buffy placed her hand on his heart. She felt the thump-thump of his beating heart. Surprised and ecstatic at the same time; Buffy flung her arms around him and kissed him. Angel put his arms around her and held her close to him. Standing there listening to his heartbeat, Buffy fell asleep.

A few hours later, once the chaos had died down, Angel returned back to his vampire state. Once everyone had gotten situated, he'd carried Buffy upstairs and let her sleep still hearing the heartbeat in her mind. The battle was over and they'd survived together. Now, only time would tell what would come next.

Angel leaned against his office doorway as he watched the elevator open to reveal her for a second time. The exception was that she has smiling. Buffy was full of light as she walked into the waiting area. She was showered and fully rested after the harsh battle with the Scourge. After that night, Buffy had been unable to come to terms with what had happened and Angel knew that Buffy would come to him first for an explanation.

Buffy was dressed in another of Fred's outfits. Since she had lost all of hers in the collapse of Sunnydale, she would need new clothes soon. Angel wanted to help Buffy, but he wasn't sure how. The Powers that Be had made him human for the battle just like it would have been if they had continued on from that fateful day forward. Would he ever become human? Buffy now knew what Angel had taken from them and he could only hope that she could begin to trust him again.

"Hi," Buffy said to him as she walked over to his doorway. Angel looked at her and noticed a small nametag pinned to her white oxford blouse. A blouse that worked nicely with the black pants and stylish boots she was wearing.

"Why are you wearing that nametag?" Angel asked her.

"I'm your new employee. Fred said that I could have Harmony's job, or Lorne said I could be his assistant. I just know I'd be a bad lab techie," she said to him trying to make a joke.

"Why don't you work with me? Battle plan, client-lawyer relations, and well, fighting evil, you know the usual stuff. You can even share my office," Angel offered to her, "Plus, you wouldn't have to wear the nametag."

"Really?" Buffy asked her eyes opening widely. This had obviously sparked her interest.

"Yes, I'll get another desk moved in here the minute you say yes," he said reassuringly.

"But, where do we go from here with what happened and everything?" Buffy asked him hinting toward what had happened the day before.

"We can't change the past; we can only make the future. And I won't deny that seeing you standing here doesn't make me want to kiss you, but that will never change. Let's try and start fresh and just see what happens," Angel said to her speaking from the bottom of his heart.

"Yes," Buffy agreed, to both a new relationship with Angel and a place on his team. Next, she quickly flicked off the nametag and threw it into the trash can.

"Done," Angel said. He signaled for to some people to bring in a new desk. This made Buffy smile.

"There is just one thing," Buffy said a bit coyly.

"Anything," Angel quickly answered and then added, "within reason."

"Can I have that cool sword from the wall behind you desk on the wall behind mine?" Buffy asked him with a happy tone in her voice.

"We'll see," he replied smiling, "we'll see." They both stood silently enjoying the moment. Then they heard a sound all too familiar from the other side of the room. A very guilty Harmony stood next to Buffy's new desk staring at a broken vase that was now in pieces on the carpeted floor. Buffy and Angel looked at each other with frightened glances and then back to Harmony. She finally spoke.

"Oops!"


End file.
